Any young(er) BMW sport touring/touring riders out there?

[mdo905]

Ever since I first laid my eyes on the R1200RT right after it came out, I knew I would someday have one. It took me until this past summer to make the leap into an '08 and couldn't be happier. I love the wind protection, comfort, and riding two-up is great.

 

However, I quickly realized that as a 30 year-old with an RT, I was definitely a minority. I'm curious to see if there are any other young(er) sport touring/touring riders out there with an RT/GT/LT/GTL/etc.?

 

 

[szurszewski]

I got my RT from my wife for my 30th birthday, so I used to be young (and, around here, I'm probably still at least a decade away from the average age).

 

There's a few other members my age or younger - maybe even someone younger than you...maybe.

 

 

[TEWKS]

However, I quickly realized that as a 30 year-old with an RT, I was definitely a minority.

Enjoy being in the minority while you can, it doesn't last very long. Hey, want to talk about not fitting into a certain bike/rider profile. 27 years old and riding a Harley Davidson Electra Glide. Yeah, I took some crap but that was 22 years ago. See what I mean.

 

 

Pat

[David13]

I'm just 39 myself.

dc

[bmwsit]

I got my LT for my 40th bday. Youngest guy at most rallies to get off an LT. Don't have to be old to enjoy comfort and the big gal will dance if you sweet talk her. Enjoy every mile.

[upflying]

Well I'm 60 but I think and feel like I'm 30. So I'm also a younger BMW owner.

[Bayou Red]

My riding buddy rides a really nice 1988 K75. He's pushing 28 in a few months. Just so happens that he's also my son.

 

[RT Russ]

Well I'm 60 but I think and feel like I'm 30. So I'm also a younger BMW owner.

 

 

Me? I'm 52 but I act 20 at times

[Id's_OK]

It wasn't an RT, but I was 27 when I got my first BMW, an R1100R, and quickly fell in with this merry bunch. Had several since then (still no RT), but hey, 15 years later, I'm still here, and still riding with my friends from bmwst.com!

 

Regardless your age, you've joined a diverse group of really interesting, engaged, dedicated riders. Enjoy the ride, and enjoy the company even more! Cheers!

[OoPEZoO]

I'll be 35 in February. I was 26 when I bought my RT and joined here. I bought it with the intent of riding it cross country and selling it when I got home. I didn't realize how much I was going to like it. I ended up keeping and running it to 126k miles before a transmission failure made me decide to part it out

 

I have since moved over to a GS and couldn't be happier. There are a few of us none AARP members lurking around, but I guess the old guys are OK too

[sardineone]

Giving credit where it is due, you young guys are just ahead of the curve!

I was 54 when I bought my present and first BMW. I've now spent seven of my 45 riding seasons on a very competent machine.

[tallman]

I was 19 when I bought my first BMW.

Nixon was president...

[philbytx]

According to SWMBO, I have an 18 year old inhabiting this 66 year old body !

 

 

[Marty Hill]

There are a few of us none AARP members lurking around, but I guess the old guys are OK too

 

Punk kids!

[4wheeldog]

I started reversing the digits a couple of years ago, so next month I go from 16 to 26. (I will have to go back to the conventional process in a few more years, before I go from 66 to 76!)

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

However, I quickly realized that as a 30 year-old with an RT, I was definitely a minority. I'm curious to see if there are any other young(er) sport touring/touring riders out there with an RT/GT/LT/GTL/etc.?

 

A long time ago...in a galaxy far, far, away...

 

I was 28 when I bought my 1100RT:

 

 

 

Like you, I was pretty firmly in the minority at the time. Not just for my age: at the time, I didn't know anyone of any age who rode a late-model BMW of any kind, let alone a heavy sport/touring maching like this.

[sardineone]

 

 

Like you, I was pretty firmly in the minority at the time. Not just for my age: at the time, I didn't know anyone of any age who rode a late-model BMW of any kind, let alone a heavy sport/touring maching like this.

In my defense as an older feller, I'm still very much in the minority in my home range on a BMW. It's Harley country around here especially for the 'baby boomers'. I was 35 when I bought my Moto Guzzi and my 'spaghetti' bike had little like company. I got to like that aspect of not following the crowd.

[Burt]

I bought my first BMW at age 25, in 1971. It was a 75/5.

[walton66]

like many others, I got my first beemer, an r90/6, in 76 at 28 and was definitely in a minority of the riders I knew who were mostly on H750s and Z1s and a couple goldwings. I still feel the same until I look in the mirror and scare myself.

[russell_bynum]

I was 25 when I bought my R1100RT.

 

Now I'm 38 and have an Aprilia Tuono.

 

I figure by the time I'm 50, I'll be riding a PW50 with training wheels.

[Marty Hill]

 

I figure by the time I'm 50, I'll be riding a PW50 with training wheels.

 

Doubt that unless it has a rocket motor in it.

[SWB]

My 26 yr old son rides a Ducati, but he's ridden my R1200RT, likes it, and has considered it as his next bike.

 

If you're really into hard core cruise, on road/off road, or cafe bike riding, you'll never be entirely happy with the RT. However, if sport+touring is your bag, there are only a few bikes out there that do it as well as the BMW RT or K-GT.

 

I guess the real question is, how many "kids" around age 25-35 are sport touring riders? My guess is, for whatever reason, very few. It may simply be a matter of time and desire, i.e. not having much time for 3-5 day rides, or desiring a bike with a younger profile (e.g. usually, cafe racer).

 

- Scott

[mdo905]

Ha, thanks everyone for all of the replies - they give me a great perspective on the riders here. I wish I could have afforded an RT while in my mid-to-late 20s, but I can just now safely afford one without stressing my finances.

 

I does feel strange for me that the only local person I can talk BMWs with is a close-to-retired co-worker with a 1150GS. A couple of the guys in my office have supersports and have pictures up in their cubes from their track days. I have respect that they actually ride their motorcycles as designed, but I just can't relate to any of them. I know I'll never have the lean-forward-go-fast mentality, so I guess I'm old at heart... I was planning on going to a meeting of the local BMW rider club just to see a cross-section of the membership.

 

SWB, I wish I had more time for 3-5 day rides. I've only done it a few times and had a blast, but can't seem to get any friend with a bike to go more than a couple hours, let alone a few days. From my experiences with my two previous motorcycles, I'm quite sure the RT is as good as it gets for me because I just want to go for hours and days, but on the least-straight road that exists.

[artig]

I started reversing the digits a couple of years ago, so next month I go from 16 to 26. (I will have to go back to the conventional process in a few more years, before I go from 66 to 76!)

 

I use hexadecimal for mine, but have to take a 6-year break and return to normal every 16 years. Even then I'm still well over 40.

 

[JoePhoenix]

I started on BMW at 31, am 41 now.

 

[Clive Liddell]

I am pleased to say that both my son and son-in-law are BMW riders, on an R and a GS respectively. They are both in their 40's ...

 

BTW Art, Daughter, SIL and family were formally in Tauranga and are now in Adelaide.

 

[moshe_levy]

I was just barely turned 31 when I picked up my first RT in 2006.... Haven't been off BMWs since.

 

 

-MKL

[moshe_levy]

Oy! Sorry for the grammar. It's too early for me!

 

-MKL

[cris nitro]

I got my first Beemer, a 1974 R75/6, in 1978, when I graduated from college. Took it down to Key West for a month tour with a buddy. He was on a Bonneville with a belt primary drive. We were headed to California, but his bike broke down in Ohio. We left it at a friends house, he took a bus back to Philly and met me in Ohio on his brothers R90/6. We had lost too much time and went to Key West instead. I have owned countless bikes since, but have had 7 BMW's in that span since.

[Lighthiker90]

I picked up my first BMW this year. I was 41 at the time. Clicked another year older a few months later. I can't see myself riding anything else at this point.

[Glenn Reed]

There are a few of us non AARP members lurking around, but I guess the old guys are OK too

 

Hey, I resemble that remark! Hi Keith!

 

MD0905, if you're not finding riders who enjoy the sport-touring you want to do, you have some options available. As you said, you can start with your local bmw club, and see if you find anybody that way. Another option is to go to the Ride and Event Planning forum here, and see if there's anything happening in your geographical area.

 

If you fill out some more of your profile, you might even find some riders here who are in your neck of the woods and can possibly meet to ride on an informal basis.

 

Above all, welcome!

[Matts_12GS]

I got my first R1100RT at 41 and in the ensuing 8 years left the brand only briefly. I am now 4 years into GS evangelism and I can't really see another brand/model that works as well for me on the whole.

[rich t]

R100s in my early thirties and my R1100RT in late thirties. For me, the simplicity of the boxer motor just made it the most logical machine to live with. It's just a machine that makes sense.

 

[Huzband]

You guys are all late to the party. I bought my first Beemer when I was just 18. A 1975 R75/6. I'm a long time kool-aid drinker.

[Matts_12GS]

You guys are all late to the party. I bought my first Beemer when I was just 18. A 1975 R75/6. I'm a long time kool-aid drinker.

 

You're just old...

[RichRS]

wel, I'll join the party... I was 25 when I got my first one.. that was 35 years ago.... rode that one 25 years... and now recently back on a bmw again... I looked at lots of others.. but couldn't get anything else....

[John in VA]

Pat

 

That antenna looks long enough to pick up Radio Moscow on shortwave.

[TEWKS]

 

That antenna looks long enough to pick up Radio Moscow on shortwave.

 

Compensating for lack of HP.

 

 

Pat

[Marty Hill]

In order to give everyone a good laugh I was 65 when I rode/bought my first BMW.

[szurszewski]

In order to give everyone a good laugh I was 65 when I rode/bought my first BMW.

 

That's only 3x my age (plus change) when I bought my first BMW - R60/7 days before turning 21. I remember looking at a brand new R1100RT in the showroom where I bought the /7 and thinking, I can't believe anyone would ever pay that much for a motorcycle that ugly (it was even the same color as the one I have now...).

 

[John in VA]

After a bunch of Honda fours, I lusted after the smoke red R100S like this for years, since the day it came out, but it was way beyond my means.

 

 

I thought it was the coolest, sportiest yet most elegant bike anywhere. A good clean one now, if one can be found, is still pretty expensive, so I never did get one.

 

My first BMW was a clean blue '85 R80RT with 10k mi I found on eBay in 2003 at age 47. I rode it for two years and then sold it for $1000 more than I paid for it. That started a long line of RTs.

[jbr7t]

Got my first BMW RT when I was 25. Joined this group very shortly after. I remember the first event I went to I was certainly the baby..then I met Keith who was only a couple years older than me. I've made some great friends on this board, and beside Keith, most of them could be my dad...or granddad! I'm 31 now and on my 3rd BMW and still hanging around here and trying to go to events when I can. Hope to see you on the road sometime.

[TEWKS]

In order to give everyone a good laugh I was 65 when I rode/bought my first BMW.

 

I think that's sumtin like 18 in Marty years.

 

 

Pat

[Norm 88]

I am 78 ...but young at Heart besides, my RT 1200 does not care how old I am as long as I Ride it every week...

[beemerboy]

I am 78 ...but young at Heart besides, my RT 1200 does not care how old I am as long as I Ride it every week...

 

Well said, Norm.

[Huzband]

I am 78 ...but young at Heart besides, my RT 1200 does not care how old I am as long as I Ride it every week...

 

Said in the spirit of Paul Mahalka.

[PhilipJCaputo]

This thread makes me laugh a bit. I showed up to the 2012 UN, and other than Keith who had me beat by a year, I was the youngest there. My wife thinks I drive an "old man's motorcycle". I just say that's because the old guys rode all of the other bikes before and finally landed on something great!

 

I had my eye on an RT for a long time. Couldn't afford one (still not sure if I can), but bought an ST1300 in 08, sold it after a couple of years living in Ohio. When moving out to Los Angeles, we sold one of our cars and I bought an RT.

 

If I could do it again, I'd probably get a GS. I think it would just suit me a little better with what I would be interested in doing right now. I really like the RT, but the heat of the SoCal summer, and the plastic up front keeps a lot of the cooling wind away.

 

I think the cost of the bike usually keeps the younger crowd away.

[walton66]

Phil, sorry to hijack the thread for a moment, but living in south florida I know the heat you speak of. I purchased a shortened windshield and while not perfect. I get a lot more air on hot days and with earplugs The relatively smooth air around my helmet is easy to tolerate.

[Marty Hill]

I am 78 ...but young at Heart besides, my RT 1200 does not care how old I am as long as I Ride it every week...

 

You have me by a few months. I'll be riding thru your town again next summer. Hope we can meet for lunch.

[Norm 88]

I would that Marty!! Lunch and check out the Santa Paula Airport